Apologising for colonial pasts

Paris:  Amid calls from Mexico for Spain and the Vatican to apologise for abuses during the conquest 500 years ago, here are some other cases where ruling powers have said sorry -- or not.

Australia to Aboriginals

In 2008 Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered an historic apology in parliament to the Aboriginal people for injustices committed over two centuries of white settlement.

"We apologise for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians," Rudd said.

Belgium urged

A UN working group in 2019 urged Belgium, coloniser of the Democratic Republic of Congo, to "issue an apology for the atrocities committed during colonisation" and recommended "reparatory justice".

Belgium had in 2002 expressed "sincere regrets" for its role in the 1961 assassination of the DRC's first prime minister, Patrice Lumumba.

Britain stops short

Britain has resisted calls to apologise for abuses under it vast empire but there have been high-level expressions of regret for specific incidents.

In 2013 Prime Minister David Cameron described the 1919 shooting by British troops of Indian protesters in Amritsar as "deeply shameful" but stopped short of an apology.

The same year Foreign Secretary William Hague offered Britain's "sincere regrets" for a crackdown against the 1950s Mau Mau uprising in Kenya, announcing compensation.

In 2001 Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey had said during a visit to Nigeria that "an apology" to African countries was warranted over their treatment during colonial rule.

Canada's children

In 2008 Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper officially apologised for more than a century of abuses at schools set up to forcibly assimilate indigenous children.

Dutch apology to Indonesia

In 2013 The Netherlands publicly apologised to Indonesia for mass killings by its army in the 1940s war of independence, in the first general apology for all executions.

The government also announced compensation to the widows of those killed.

French colonies

In 2007 President Nicolas Sarkozy admitted in Algiers that "the colonial system was profoundly unfair" but refused an apology.

His successor Francois Hollande said in 2012 he sought a new era in relations but would not offer "repentance or apologies".

In 2018 President Emmanuel Macron went further than any of his predecessors in recognising the scale of abuses by French troops during Algeria's 1954-1962 independence war.

Germany's Namibia killings

The German government said in 2016 that it planned to formally apologise to Windhoek for its killing of indigenous Namibians a century ago, although the move would not carry any obligation of reparations.

German authorities have several times expressed regret over the 1904 massacre of up to 65,0000 Hereros, a government minister in 2004 describing the action as "genocide".

Italy to Libya

In 2008 Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi apologised to Libya for damage during the colonial era and signed a multi-billion-dollar investment deal as compensation.

"It is my duty, as a head of government, to express to you in the name of the Italian people our regret and apologies for the deep wounds that we have caused you," Berlusconi said.

Japan's Korea remorse

Japan has apologised several times for its 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean peninsula, but deep resentment remains over the issue of sex slaves known as "comfort women".

In 2002, for example, it recognised it had "caused tremendous damage and suffering" and expressed "deep remorse and heartfelt apology".

In 2015 South Korea and Japan reached a landmark agreement on the complex issue of the sex slaves, Tokyo announcing payment for survivors and an apology.

New Zealand to Samoa

In 2002 New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark offered a formal apology to Samoa for blunders during colonial times, including the gunning down of pacifist protesters.

Pope seeks forgiveness

In Bolivia in 2015 Pope Francis asked for forgiveness for crimes committed in the name of the Catholic Church when Spanish conquerors enslaved indigenous peoples in the Americas.

In 2016 in Mexico he asked the indigenous population for forgiveness over their treatment, including having their land taken.

Sweden's Samis

In 1998 Sweden's government apologised to the Sami indigenous people for injustices during colonialisation, when they were forced off their land.